Renegade Rave
by Imagination Gamer
Summary: Jak called his friend about a new neighbor moving next door to him. Good news, right? Wrong! Dead wrong! This new neighbor blasts his music so loud that Jak can't get a wink of sleep which starts to affect his work. My OC has to choose whether to force this musical menace to leave or let him continue to torture Jak into insanity! Read and review. Rated for language and violence.
1. New Neighbor Equals a Frustrated Friend

_Imagination Gamer: I know I need to finish my first story to publish a new one, but I'm low on inspiration and you don't even wanna **know **about my stupid Writer's Block! I wrote, er typed this just for laughs because this story has been in my head since the last time I played one of my favorite fighting games: Sherk Super Slam. I don't own the game! If I did, it would be one hell of a game. This will be first person because it's directly out of her journal._

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC whose name I won't mention. Need I say more?!**

_**A New Neighbor Equals A Frustrated Friend**_

I was at the shooting range to both hone my shooting skills and, most of all, beat Jak's Blaster Mod record. Most of the guys who know of Jak's sharp shooting skills with that gun would say that doing something like that would be about as impossible as going near Jak's Dark Eco infused counterpart without getting killed. If they only read my journal a little more they would change that expression in a heartbeat, but that's another story for another time. Anyway, I was honing my skills and I was _so _close to beating my friend's record. As cursed luck would have it, my communicator started playing _Animal That I've Become _loudly which caused me to miss the final cardboard Metalhead and I was one point down from beating Jak's record. But, I didn't have time to throw my gun around, swear like a sailor, and growl like DJ because the cause of my gun missing the target and costing me the record is calling me. I recognized the fitting song as Jak's ring which stroke me as ironic because here I am trying to beat _his record _and he just so happens to call me which caused me to not be able to beat his record with the Blaster Mod for the fifth time this month, go figure!

I sighed in annoyance, answered him, and deadpanned into the speaker, "What now, Jak." before I replaced my tone with a touch of humor, "You just made me miss the shot _again_. So, you get to keep your title as the best shot with the Blaster Mod... for now."

I heard his slight cough which I knew for a fact disguised a laugh from him before he answered, "Well, that's good news... for me that is."

Normally, I'd laugh at that kind of remark done with his rare humor. But, I noted the slight aggravation in his tone which usually spelled trouble or something that's bugging him or Torn giving him a mission so bad that he would rather jump in a lake of Dark Eco than do it.

"Alright, I caught the ever so subtle 'I'm so annoyed at this' tone of yours." I told him, "What is Torn making you do this time?"

"I'm free from missions for the week." he explained.

"Is there something going on with you or the city that I would like to know about?" I inquired.

"The city is quiet, Metalheads were pushed back mostly because of me, and I haven't heard from your usual potion-related antics." he told me.

"Yet." I murmured under my breath.

"What was that?" he growled.

"N-nothing!" I stumbled, "Nothing at all! Nothing at all!"

"That's what I _thought _you said." he muttered sounding really vexed.

"Wow, something _is _bugging ya, Jay." I said, "I haven't heard you sound _this _frustrated since Baron P..."

I stopped myself from finishing the Baron's name as fast as I could, but it was too late. He heard what I said and he growled so dangerously low that it took all of my willpower to not gulp in fear. I heard him taking deep breaths in an attempt to follow Ben's advice and not lose it in the middle of a conversation. Something is really making my Dark Eco infested friend mad and mentioning Praxis is not helping at all.

"What's bugging me is that I have a new neighbor moving in next door to me." he muttered trying to explain himself without sounding too ticked off, but he was failing at that.

"What's so annoying about that?!" I shouted in excitement, "It's about _time _someone was brave or stupid enough to move in next to you. Maybe you two can make friends or..."

"That's not the point!" Jak shouted to get a word in edgewise, "It bugs the hell out of me because this new neighbor that moved in next door to me two weeks ago is so... so..."

He obviously couldn't find the right word to describe his new neighbor. So, I decided to try to take a guess at it.

"Disgusting? Disturbing? Stupid? Mean? Loud? Annoying?" I guessed multiple times.

"...Musical." he finished.

What he said baffled me because I loved music almost as much as I loved knocking Krimzon Guards around and he doesn't even mind my music blasting. In fact, he sneaks into my chambers all the time just to hear me sing.

"What's wrong with music?" I asked, "You and half of Haven City know very well how much I _love_ music."

"Yeah, but you know when to stop playing your music and singing your songs." he told me, "That metal head neighbor of mine has blasted his screamo music and played his drums for nearly three days now!"

"Have you gotten any sleep?" I asked.

"No!" he shouted in a cranky tone which I can understand for his lack of sleep, "I haven't had a single night of peace and quiet since he moved here! I can see _why _South Town kicked him out!"

"Oh!" I realized, "You're talking about Ken 'The Killer' Davis! He was the terror of Haven City and he was bailed out of jail more times than he'd care to admit before you ended up in the Fortress!"

"Well, if Dax were here, he would say that he's a _killer_ of my sleep and he's a _terror _of my eardrums!" he shouted.

"Yeah, I know." I laughed, "You would most likely agree to that remark that he would make."

"What should I do about this?!" he asked almost demanding me.

"Buy earplugs." I answered.

"No, I'm _serious_!" he growled.

"So am I!" I retorted, "The section you live in has people who fear and respect that man. They'd rather jump in a nest full of Metalheads than complain about his annoying music blasting because Ken is a very dangerous man. Even I had to watch out for him when I was a guard. So, you'll just have to hang loose and bear with it. Hopefully, _someone _will complain about him."

"Can't I just file a complaint to the City Council?" he asked.

"I seriously doubt the City Council will listen to the likes of you because they hate Dark Warriors with a passion because they had a really bad experience with them. So, can you trust me to bear with Ken's loud music until further notice?" I asked.

I heard him growl in annoyance before he responded, "Fine! It's not like anyone gives a damn about my sleep! I'll try to bear with that sound blasting rock head! But, let me tell you this: You will _not_ like me when I get no sleep for a long time!"

That remark he made seemed to be more of a promise rather than a threat because it sounded deadly serious. Before I could say anything to comfort my angry friend or even ask if that remark was a threat he hung up on me which I sadly got used to long ago. I had a very bad feeling that I was gonna have a severely crabby friend for the next couple of weeks before I could attempt to rally the slums to throw Ken out just like I did with South Town. Little did I know how severe the understatement I made about Jak's reaction to a lack of sleep was. Mostly because even he needs his rest and the fact that he's still just a teenager increases that need by leaps and bounds. I hoped that I could rally the town with my classic protestor's words to force that man out of the section. Little did I even realize just how terrified the slums really are of the ex-criminal who is depriving my poor friend of sleep.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: What is it about lack of sleep that's got Jak so scared that would make him call her in the middle of her shooting practices? She told him this morning that she was gonna practice. What is it about a little rock music at night that's got Jak so angry. Read on and find out._


	2. Serious Lack of Sleep

_Imagination Gamer: Finally, something I could probably finish within a day or maybe less because this story has gnawed at me to write it for months. Yes, Jak is in this story and getting into character when it comes to him is not one of my strongest talents because he's not mine and his character is very complex to me. Maybe you guys can give me a little advice in your reviews on how to get into better character of Jak when he was 17 for later stories. This old news story is obviously just a few weeks after the events of Jak II. Try to bear with any break in character I probably make due to lack of experience with Jak's character._

**Disclaimer: You know very well by now that I don't own anything except my OCs: Ben and the mystery girl.**

**_Serious Lack of Sleep_**

A few weeks after our argument I was starting to regret doing what I did by making poor Jak try to bear with Ken's loud rock music because the poor guy was really suffering from lack of sleep. Sure he can go several days without sleep and you wouldn't notice. But, he went nearly two weeks without a wink of sleep which is making him even a lot more irritable than usual. It was even making his already dangerous missions more dangerous than usual because he fell asleep on the job at the worst point several times. He even dozed off during our serious talks about his powers. Also, his strength failed him which nearly costed him his life several times. My poor friend even had more memory lapses than he does when he darks out. Also, he suffered from micro-sleeps which caused him to dark out more than once and his Dark episodes sometimes lasts longer than the usual two minutes to a half hour and he has a severe lack of control when he changes which hasn't happened in over two months. Those dangerous events happen because his sleep deprivation caused his will to fight back his rage and his intention to control himself to drop dangerously. Someone could get killed because of that!

"No wonder he wanted me to try to get rid of Ken earlier." I muttered while I was working on the genetics of Jak that I snuck from a sample of his blood because of a recent fight with him that left me with some bruises. I was working on it in the secret area of my chamber that not even Jak knows about.

"He knew his lack of sleep would damage his control over his Dark powers and put everyone near him in danger if he suddenly goes off. What am I gonna do about this?!" I asked myself while trying to separate the Eco from his blood which is not easy.

When I was finished figuring out how most of his abilities work I walked out of my secret lab and bumped into Ben which startled me and him.

"Precursors!" Ben shouted, "You practically scared the Dark Eco out of me!"

"You scared me scaring you, Ben." I breathed trying to catch my breath.

When Ben composed himself he, from a force of habit, observed from the look on my face that I was nervous about something and trying to figure something out or something really bad will happen.

"What's gotten you so nervous?" Ben inquired.

I thought about it for a moment and decided to tell him about what's going on with Jak because Ben was always good at coming up with clever solutions to the most baffling of problems. Especially when these problems involve a certain Dark Eco infused teen warrior who has more problems than all of Haven City's residents put together.

"Well, the problem is this, Ben." I explained, "There's this neighbor that plays his rock music really loud and plays his drums really hard to the point that not even a sound sleeper like Jak can close his eyes. Not even the best quality earplugs can help diminish the noise that is disturbing his rest. Now, because of the loud music, Jak is so tired that he can barely control his own powers. He can't focus on his missions from anybody. Also, his angry outbursts are becoming more and more common to the point that even I hesitate to try to approach him for fear that he might dark out and kill me without a second thought. Look at these horrible bruises from a fight I _just _had with him! We haven't fought about _anything_ in over three months! You know that our arguments almost never end in a fight! What if it gets worse and he finally loses it and kills everybody in the city!"

Ben looked a bit disturbed by my explanation of Jak's plight. But, he stayed calm and tried to find an answer to this issue.

"Have you tried throwing this neighbor out?" Ben offered.

"He used to be an ex-criminal and it'll take Jak to throw him out, but he's so tired that he can barely stand up." I answered.

"Why don't you rally the town?" he asked.

"I've tried that yesterday." I answered, "They're more scared of Ken than they are of Jak."

"Ken the Killer?!" Ben shouted, "No wonder! He used to be the terror of Haven City!"

"How so?" I asked, having a feeling that I might regret asking that.

"He killed a whole squadron of guards using only his bare hands until he got bored and used more creative ways to kill them! He robbed the biggest bank in Haven City by himself with just a bag and an Eco Bomb! He took out a whole Metalhead army by snapping his fingers! He destroyed an entire section of the city with only a few tiny grenades! Don't even get me started with the time he took out a whole Krimzon Guard weapons factory with only a stick!"

"I get the idea!" I shouted, "But, you and I both know that Jak has done far worse than that. What does Ken have that Jak wouldn't have in a lifetime?"

"I have no idea." Ben stated, "Maybe he's faking something that we know he doesn't have. Trust me, I know several criminals who faked having powers beyond imagination just to give them power and instill fear in other people. Remember Henry the Hack?"

"Oh boy, do I know that little lying bastard!" I shouted, "Jak used to call him the biggest liar in Haven City next to Daxter! That idiot Henry claimed that he had the awesome power to do anything he wanted to even if it goes against the laws of nature and no one will be able to stop him from doing so. He even claimed he could wipe out entire armies by snapping his fingers. Humph! _Please_! The second he saw ol' Dark Jak the poor man was quickly reduced to a quivering child shouting in a pitiful voice, 'Don't kill me! Please, don't kill me! I won't lie to this town just to scared them again!' Even that creature couldn't help, but laugh at Henry's plea for mercy. Have you even _heard _DJ's laugh?! Man, it used to give me worse nightmares than I usually have!"

"No, kidding." Ben muttered, "I've heard it many times before."

"What should I do about my sleepless Jak problem?" I asked sounding worried.

"Why don't you face Kenny yourself?" Ben offered.

"Are you serious?" I shouted.

"Like an attack from DJ." Ben joked.

"Ha ha ha! _Very_ funny!" I shouted.

"Come on, I know you really want to help him with his neighbor problem. You care for him and he cares for you. Sometimes I wonder if you two are one person. I mean with the way you two treat each other... like equals" he murmured.

"I'll tell you what Ben, I'll think the situation over." I answered which is obviously not the answer Ben wanted to hear from me.

As he was walking away from me, clearly looking annoyed, he warned, "Alright, but you know it's only going to get worse."

I just tried to ignore him as I was trying to think it over by weighing the impossible factors of Ken even listening to an Eco Freak like me. But, Ben did say something at the door that almost convinced me.

"It's better to take the risk sooner rather than later because you know Jak will finally lose his last shred of humanity if this serious sleep deprivation of his persists." he advised before closing the door and leaving me in a state of deep thought.

"Should I do this?" I asked myself, "Should I risk my life and tell that rock head off into the streets for Jak's sake?"

I thought about it for several minutes and decided to risk my poor well being even more by asking for Jak's advice on the musical matter!

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Uh oh! Asking for a tired and cranky Jak's advice?! She may, quite literally, look up to him when it comes to troubles like this? But, when he's tired?! Let's hope Jak can keep his temper despite his horrid lack of sleep._


	3. Advice From an Old Friend

_Imagination Gamer: Three down and three to go in this short story. This is where my character learns that sometimes you gotta take a risk for the sake of your best friends no matter what will happen to you._

**Disclaimer: You get the general idea. I don't own anything except my characters.**

_**Advice From An Old Friend**_

I decided to talk to Jak even though he's _beyond_ exhausted. I hope that he won't explode on me like he did earlier which gave me lots of bruises and some of his own blood. I was at the bar in my second job which mostly consists of serving drinks, cleaning the bar, washing the dishes, and making conversation with the customers. But, sometimes I had to be a bit of a bouncer when there's a fight and Jak is either not here to help me break it up or he's the one who caused the fight in the first place. It's usually the latter because some drunkards or crooks just make Jak angry on purpose after he had a bad day which is usually almost everyday. Speaking of Jak, I saw the tired Eco warrior stumbling in looking absolutely horrible. He looked paler than usual, his hair was a mess, some of his clothes are on backwards, and he had bags on his bags under his blood-shot eyes. In his morning stupor he forgot his goggles, belt, scarf, gloves, socks, and his pack. He was stumbling like he had one drink too many as he walked. He looked like he desperately needed to sleep for at least a month!

"Precursors," I murmured, hoping he won't hear me, "he looks like something the guards dragged in."

"I heard that." Jak muttered half yawning and half growling while taking a seat on one of the stools to avoid passing out from the task of just simply standing up for too long.

"Well, it's true." I nearly shouted.

"Wh-what makes you... say that?" he muttered while struggling to stay awake so he won't possibly dark out in his sleep. Even the patrons are watching Jak a little too intently for comfort. I don't blame them for their nervous behavior because when Jak is like that _everything_ is prey to him except me, Keira, Ashelin, Tess, Samos, Torn, Daxter, most of the Underground members, and my more dangerous pets.

"Look at you!" I shouted in a whisper to keep his headache from making a comeback, "Your bloodshot eyes have bags on thier bags, you're pale as a ghost, your hair is a mess, you've forgotten half of your stuff, and the clothes you did manage to remember are on backwards and inside out! Hell, you're even struggling to stay awake as we speak!"

When I heard a slight bang and the sound of the bottles on the bar rattling from the vibration. I quickly realized that Jak fell asleep when I finished my rant. I snarled under my breath, grabbed an empty glass bottle, and shattered it on the bar as hard as I could which startled him and half of the drunken patrons into the land of the living. Jak glared at me with his eyes looking a bit dark and the patrons looking a bit scared before exhaustion overtook him and he calmed down. I sighed quietly with relief because I don't want to perform another dance with the devil in front of the customers. I've got enough people calling me a freak as it is!

"Okay, Jak, let's not lose our cool today." I told him trying to sound calm about it. But, that's not exactly easy when I'm talking about the thing that can kill entire armies in one fell swoop!

"I'm trying. I'm trying." he murmured in exhaustion. But, that didn't take away the annoyance in his voice.

"Jak, stay with me on this because this is very important." I advised him in a serious tone which usually makes him listen no matter how tired he is.

"What is it this time?" he yawned trying desperately to stay awake and the struggle is clear even to one with half a brain cycle.

"Well, the thing is," I started off badly, "I told your pal Ben about your sleep deprivation problems. Now, before you start getting all huffy and yell at me that I should've kept my mouth shut, let me tell you that you look absolutely horrible and it's starting to affect your work! If I had a dollar for every time you almost died from suddenly falling asleep during a dangerous mission I wouldn't be living in the forest! I thought that he might have the answer to our little problem with our local musician. But, that only left me with the option to ask for your two-cent which is not a great idea either because your advice is about as good as mine or maybe even worse because you're so tired. What I'm saying is what do you think I should do about this mess?"

I let him draw on my energy so he could think. After that I felt significantly fatigued because Jak was really drained. Jak, looking surprisingly awake, thought about the situation for a moment. I sensed that he thought about the failed rally, so I can't get anybody else to do it. He thought about the ignorance of the City Council which I felt worried him greatly. He contemplated what rumors he heard about Ken which he considers laughably more outrageous than the rumors about DJ. He finally thought about what it would take to get that rock head out. I felt he had no choice, but to either do it himself or I have to do it myself.

"_If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself._" I heard him think.

* * *

**Explanation about How I'm Doing This:**

_The thing with me and Jak is that I'm extremely empathic, but I can only focus on those who I know the best or who I can easily relate to. Jak is both someone I really know and I can easily relate to him for three big reasons:_

_One, we both suffered Dark Eco experiments in the fortress and nearly went insane in the process._

_Two, we were both looked upon as freaks of nature for years and didn't take too kindly to it._

_Three, we are both have similar personalities. We even go as far as talking and gesturing at the same time._

_Also, due to how I ended up in his world, it costed me a severe amount of my blood and most of the powers that I earned. But, it never costed me my strange ability to splice with other's DNA the second I get a transfusion from them. Unlike with most of my transfusions, which earns me only half of their powers, I had all of Jak's powers and natural abilities! I just needed to apply myself in battle with these abilities. But, I didn't for quite some time because I never knew about them which annoyed Jak for quite a while. That is, until I found out the hard way what I was capable of. I thought I was never going to get my original powers back. But, after training with him for months however, I went in an odd glowing cave at Sentinel Beach and felt really strange. After coming out, all of my powers came back even stronger than before and poor Jak ended up suffering a terrifying aerial flight from the exhilaration of having my powers back after going nearly a year without them._

_When I earned his abilities me and Jak also earned the ability to mentally speak with each other from light years away, draw on each other's energies, feel each other's feelings, read each other's stray thoughts, and we can even hear what the other is hearing. But, we both have to focus on each other to perform the major one's such as hearing, seeing, and mentally speaking. It often shows in our eyes. My eyes flicker blue and his eyes go green for a bit. We almost never can keep secrets from each other because of this. But, I can only do this kind of sharing with him and only with him with that kind of power. Most of my other friends in other worlds are lucky to be able to at least feel what I'm feeling. We rarely, if ever, draw on each other's energies because its mentally and physically tiring to the giver. One can also feel when the other is prying into their thoughts. It feels kind of like a slight pressure in your head. But, if one pries slowly the other won't know what happened._

* * *

Jak is wide awake from drawing on a large amount of my energies, but he still looked just awful from lack of sleep. I usually let him draw on my energy when he's sent on a very dangerous mission and he had absolutely no sleep which rarely happens. He can keep this vim and vigor for up to four hours at most before his exhaustion from severe lack of sleep overtakes him. It's basically like taking a caffeine shot only it doesn't affect his health negatively like a caffeine shot normally would do to him.

"Any ideas, Jak?" I asked still fatigued from letting him draw on so much of my energies to wake up a little.

"I'm sure you heard what I was thinking." he hinted. He knew that I was prying into his train of thought.

"You kicking him out?" I asked in shock, "With your exhaustion, I don't think that's gonna happen."

"Then, why don't you do it then?" he asked almost demanding.

"I just don't think I, a little girl, can convince a criminal like Ken to leave!" I yelled causing his tired headache to make a comeback.

"Well, I don't just_ think_ you can!" Jak shouted angrily because of his headache, "I **know** you can get him to leave!"

"How?!" I shouted.

The patrons were getting scared because if Jak loses it again we're gonna have an angry Dark Demon on our hands. I was trying to keep him from losing his temper, but it's not as easy as it sounds. After almost two minutes of coaxing, I got him to calm down.

"Why don't you just... _persuade_ him to leave the neighborhood." Jak hinted at smiling a bit too evilly for this to be good.

"Oh no!" I shouted, "You know I never have it in me to harm anyone!"

"Says the girl who helped a certain Dark Demon kill off a whole squadron of guards until she got bored and started killing them in more... _creative_ ways than the guys from the medieval times!" he shouted back.

"**One** time!" I screamed.

"_twelve_ times." he corrected.

"Give me a break!" I moaned.

"How long is this break gonna be?!" he demanded me.

"Until the day you die!" I hissed.

"That's gonna be awhile." he laughed.

"I can wait!" I yelled.

"You_ really _don't want to do this."

"No way!"

"Not for the slummers?" he asked in a soft tone.

"Uh uh!"

"Not for the sake of the Underground?" he asked in a softer tone.

"No."

"Not for the sake of my health?" he asked in an even softer voice.

That made me stop and think about it. But, I stopped myself to try to make myself more resolute by using one of Daxter's phrases.

"Forget it! Finito! Fat chance! Not gonna happen! Nope! Nuh uh! Never!"

Before I could really get my point across, he said something that got my attention.

"Not even for your best friend?" he practically whispered.

I looked a bit shocked because him saying something like that is equivalent to DJ clawing me in the stomach as hard as he could.

"W-well, uh, umm, err, y-you see.. It's just that... Aww man!" I stumbled, trying to find the right words.

"How about you _try_ to spend the night at my house and see if that won't convince you?" he offered.

I was surprised beyond belief because Jak hasn't allowed me to spend the night at his house on the account that his nightmares causes him to change and he fears that it might try to kill me in my sleep like it tried to last time. But, I decided to take up on his offer if it'll get him to stop badgering me to try to get rid of the annoyance by myself. He shook his head yes to my condition just before the energy he borrowed from me dropped and he almost passed out on the floor. But, I caught him, and kept him from falling asleep. I half dragged and half walked him out of the bar, placed him on the passenger side of my Flyer, and went en route to Jak's temporary home until I work things out at my home so he can live with me.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Looks like the sleepy ol' Eco Warrior has a plan in store for his friend. What is he up to that may play with her emotions to the point that she might give this Ken a proper Havenite greeting? Who is this Ken Davis anyway? What's his story besides the fact that he used to be a horrid crook? You wanna find out? Then, read on!_


	4. Meeting The Rock Head

_Imagination Gamer: Four down two to go. Looks like we get to meet the source of Jak's problems with his sleeping. Let's hope my character won't lose her temper too much in public._

**Disclaimer: "If only, if only" the Moncaw sighs. I don't own anything except my OC's**

**_Meeting the Rock Head_**

The slums were fairly run down and full of criminals who would kill you for fun or kidnap you for profit. But, there are some people who are actually good people that have starving families. It makes me wonder why an important man like Jak lives in this shabby village. That's why I'm planning to have a talk with the council about letting Jak come to live with me because no hero should have to live like this. Scapping for food and ducking the guards which makes him feel a bit trapped like he was in the prison again. That makes me feel bad because he is my friend after all. He took me in back in the villages when no one else would and I should return the favor by letting him live with me.

When I was approaching the slums to take the unconscious Jak to his home to take a nice, long nap I was unpleasantly greeted by a loud wave of rock music and horribly loud bells that not only woke Jak up rudely. It also made him hit me so hard out of instinct that it nearly knocked me unconscious and I was the one _driving_! The Flyer slowed down to a halt and dropped to the ground as the engine died. I came to, grabbed Jak angrily by the front of his shirt, and had my fist up ready to punch him in the face.

"I'm gonna hit you so hard that you're gonna need a set of dentures after this!" I screamed over the faint yet loud rock music.

Before Jak could say anything to save his teeth the music suddenly stopped. It caused both of us to look in the direction of where the annoying music came from. It turns out the place next door to Jak is a huge bell tower that looks as though it's been there for centuries. But, there are very noticable changes to it that I don't remember seeing before when I used to climb it all the time to escape the guards. There are a bunch of wires, amplifiers, electric bells, satellites, and radios everywhere. They look like they have really powerful bass and sound standing idle. No wonder Jak can't sleep a wink even with the most potent anesthetic that was pumped into him last night which really made him drowsy, but he still couldn't sleep from the loud music.

I saw a young man walk out of the tower with headphones in his ears pumping the latest beats into his ears. He was fairly young, I'd say about Jak's age, or he just looks young because even back in my world I've made that mistake before. He had thick, black, short hair that's styled like something out of the late 80's. He had piercing yellow eyes that are even more piercing than Erol's eyes which almost made me growl.

He had nearly every part of his ears pierced which made me stare and count them. I counted over twenty different ear piercings on each ear. But, he had all kinds of piercings on each ear. I recognized some of the piercings as the kind punk rock fans would kill to wear, but some of them are really strange and foreign to me and that's saying something because I pretty much have been everywhere and seen nearly everything.

His nails were painted nearly as black as DJ's which brought back really bad memories for me. His skin was paler than mine used to be when I was in prison for the past eight months and a few shades away from being as pale as Darkie's. He was thin around the waist and hardly had any upper body strength to speak of. But, he does have slight muscle in his arms which tell me he could easily beat me, if I were a normal girl, in an arm wrestling match. Other than his arms and legs, everything else was very thin for his age. He was very tall for his age; probably about 6"3 or more.

He was wearing black leather pants with metal patterns, a black leather jacket with crystal patterns, and a very spiky dog collar. His shoes look like Jak's only they're black instead of blue and had spikes on the toebox. He was wearing black, spiked, leather gloves that I'd rather not be on the receiving end of. Under his jacket was a black, worn out shirt that has one of my favorite punk rock bands on there which made me smirk slightly. He was wearing almost as many rings on his fingers as Krew. They had really weird designs on them that Jak might recognize if he were awake now. His belt is black leather, spiked, and had a skull for a buckle.

He had a chain on his side that is silvery black, thick, and has traces of dark blood on it. It's real blood because I could smell it from here. You can guess how I'm able to do that. The worst part is that the blood on it is too dark to be normal blood, I can't name the type of blood it is, and the blood itself looks familiar._ Too familiar_! A horrible thought hit me like Dark Jak's bomb move. I searched the unconscious Jak for chain wounds and found it on his side. It was quite old, light red, scabbed, but noticable if it weren't for his tunic covering it. Now that I think of it, I did feel a horrid pain in my side just last week. It just burned me up because whoever harms Jak technically harms me and they usually get my fist in their faces for that.

Whatever song Ken was listening to he was really lost in the music. He started dancing in the streets crazily and started singing along to the song. He's not half bad at either singing or dancing, I'll grant him that. But, I was throughly disturbed when he started singing screamo. He had his hand in the air in a "rock on" hand signal I typically see in a screamo concert. He was head banging and he stuck his tongue out in the process. That was the disturbing part because his tongue was pierced in three places and his tongue was not only long as hell, but it was surgically forked! I gulped in an effort to keep myself from throwing up. The song finally ended, he closed his mouth, and he finally took the ear buds out of his tone-deaf ears.

"Hey!" I called, "You, Ken, I want to talk to you!"

Ken just continued humming his beats to himself and walking to the beat of whatever he was listening to as if the song is stuck in his head to the point that he's still listening to it.

"Ken!" I shouted, "Seriously, we _need_ to talk about this!"

He just continued to walk to the beat and sing the rock song that he listened to.

"Hello!" I barked, "My friend is suffering from sleep deprivation which is affecting his control over his powers!"

Ken was about twenty feet away from me and he still isn't listening to a single word I'm shouting. I lost my patience with the kid and ran to him to get his attention. I grabbed his shoulders and started shaking him into reality so I can speak with him about this problem.

"Wh-wh-what, kid?!" he shouted way too loud, "What do you want from me?! Jeez! Is it against the law to sing and dance in the streets or something?!"

"I want to tell you that your music is too loud!" I yelled, "My friend is having trouble sleeping which makes it tough for him to complete his jobs, talk to his own friends, and keep his horrid temper in check!"

Ken just looked at me like I was babbling nonsense to him for no reason.

"I'm serious!" I shouted, "If he doesn't get any sleep, he'll lose whatever's left of his sanity from the stress of no sleep! If he loses his sanity, he'll lose his humanity to his Dark power! If he loses his humanity to the monster, it'll take over! If he let's his Dark side take over him, we'll all be in danger!"

"Humph," Ken scoffed, "you'll be able to stop that creature from hurting your bros and homies."

"I _won't_ be able to stop him!" I yelled, "It's because whatever is left of Jak will be _gone forever_ and he'll become what the Baron was trying to create, a _monster_!"

"That ain't what I meant by stopping him." he smirked, "I mean you have to, you know..."

He made a cutting noise and ran his finger across his throat while smirking. I looked horrified because I would never_ ever_ do that to Jak even if the worst happens to him.

"No!" I shouted while defending Jak viciously, "I would never kill Jak for all the reasons I've heard and seen! He's my friend no matter what happens! Also, he's very important to the safety of the city as well as the defenses best man! If I kill him, I'm putting all the city in danger of attack that Jak could've easily averted! Do you want that, Ken?!"

The rock-headed Elfan still wouldn't listen to me. He just glared daggers at me and rudely slammed my shoulder. Before I could put him on the receiving end of my staffs, he ran like he was being chased by Dark Jak. I stared at the running crook like he was my worst enemy because he's the main cause of my friend's sleep suffering and he doesn't seem to like me at all, but he seems to be scared of me. I saw my friend Ashley, a discharged guard, walking down the street looking at Ken with trepidation. Something tells me that she knew a thing or two about the kid. So, I stopped her to ask her a few questions about what goes on with this boy.

"Hi Ashley!" I called casually, "You seem kinda scared of that kid. What's up with him?"

"Didn't you hear?" Ashley asked with fear in her tone which is alien to me unless she's talking about Jak.

"Clearly, I didn't hear." I told her as if pointing out the obvious, "That's why I'm asking what this kids' deal is."

"Let's just say Jak wasn't the only one who survived the Dark Warrior Program." she whispered.

As she explained that my photographic memory acted up and the image of Ken shoulder slamming me appeared, paused at him slamming at me, and closed in on his wrists. I saw forced punctures on his wrists that are an angry purplish-red. I realized those puncture wounds are very similar to that of Jak's wounds from prison. that's where a horrible thought about the kid hits me really hard.

"Ken is a frigging Dark Warrior!" I screamed which caused Ashley to quickly cover my mouth, look behind me, saw Ken was still lost in his beats, and let go of me while sighing with relief.

"He doesn't like people knowing that he's a monster like Jak." Ashley whispered.

"Then he's got to be one heck of a wuss." I whispered harshly, "Both me and Jak are out and proud and we both constantly practice our powers by fighting each other. To most, it looks like a freaking fight to the death. But, it's not a blood fight unless I'm mortally wounded. It's more of a friendly tussle in Dark Demon standards."

"Those monsters have extreme standards." Ashley murmured.

"I know that." I laughed.

"Still," Ashley warned, "watch out for him. That _thing _is extremely dangerous!"

"So is Jak." I pointed out, "Do I watch out for him? No. Do we talk about him in hushed tones? No. Do you fear him like you fear Metalheads? Hell no! Why? Because he's our friend, always got us through thick and thin, and we trust him with our lives."

"But, not Ken." Ashley explained, "The boy has one hell of a criminal record..."

"So does Jak" I retaliated.

"...he's killed hundreds of guards..."

"Jak's killed _thousands _of guards, metalheads, and other creatures!"

"...that kid is _really_ dangerous..."

"Jak is so dangerous that even the Metal heads fear him."

"...he committed many heinous crimes that places him on the death penalty..."

"Jak did far worse."

"...our guards have been ordered to watch out for him..."

"So were the guards when Jak was a menace."

"...the boy has a temper and his tactics are vicious..."

"Do you think Jak is any different?"

"...the boy is a huge public menace..."

"So was Jak."

"...Key word: _WAS_!" Ashley finished which made me run out of retaliations.

"Listen, he's wreaking your friend's sleeping patterns." Ashley pointed out firmly, "You have to get him out of the city before Jak gets any worse."

Ashley walked on after her anger was spent. As I dragged the unconscious Jak to his home, I turned all I was told over in my mind. Everyone seems to want me to get rid of this public nuisance. Since I know Ken is a Dark Warrior like Jak, I can assume that he's torturing Jak like this because of the instinct to eliminate competition. I want to get rid of Ken because of what he's doing to my friend. But, I don't want to because I'm afraid I won't be able to because I heard he was in the experiments _a lot_ longer than Jak. I don't even want to know what that extra Dark Eco made Ken capable of doing or what his Dark form even looks like. I've heard rumors of Ken looking scarier than Dark Jak is _ever_ gonna be! I don't want to attempt to stop him for those reasons because... I'm scared of him.

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Whoa! There's a shock! She usually knows no fear! Do you think that she's gonna try to get rid of Jak's local nuisance or will she just stand there and let the grass grow under her feet? If she doesn't do this, things will only get worse for her poor friend. _


	5. Confrontation With The Sleep Menace

Imagination_ Gamer: This is taking longer than I thought... Oh! Is this thing on? Well, the shock is we found out my character is actually scared of the assault on Jak's ears. Ken may not look like much, but apparently he's more than what most realize. But, is it true or is it another guy who just wants to scare others to gain power. Let's see if this is the case._

**Disclaimer: If only I own the game. But, I don't except my OCs.**

_**Confrontation With The Sleep Menace**_

I carried Jak bridal style into his home and noticed that he prepared for my arrival. His home looks almost as spotless as mine. I'll admit something about me, I'm slightly obsessive compulsive when it comes to my objects. But, with other people's stuff, I keep my hands to myself. The last time I walked into his house it looked like DJ tore through it. Then again, that expression might be the case because Jak looked like he just blew off steam and _a lot _of it. Now, it looked like it was invaded by aliens from the Planet Spotless!

"Jak, did you clean your house?" I asked, forgetting he was still out like a light, "Or did you have Darkie help because even the ceiling looks brand new!"

I looked at Jak for an answer and saw he was still out. I face-palmed myself because I forgot he's still out like a light and it's been nearly a month since the last time he slept. I took him to his gun-filled room, laid him on his bed, and even went as far as to tuck him in. I turned off the light, told him good night even though it was only 5, and closed the door.

* * *

_7:00 P.M, Two Hours Later:_

I was reading a book on how to care for exotic animals because I planned on getting one. I was already halfway through the book and I haven't heard Ken's annoying rock music since I came. Jak was still sound asleep because I could feel he's still out cold. He might be having a pleasant dream for all I know which would be a first to me. When the clock struck 10 I was done with my book and had my things unpacked. I took a hot shower because of the events today and because my wounds from earlier heal faster from hot water. I don't know why that happens, that's just how my body works. I jumped out, did the usual hygienic procedures, and got on my favorite gown. It was down to my ankles, a watery green, and had my favorite flower, a daisy, on the chest.

I jumped on the couch, covered up, and closed my eyes to go to my most secure place: Dream Land. I was sure that Ken has finally kicked the music blasting habit and Jak'll finally have a peaceful night for once. Just as that thought crossed my mind, my dream of the past was interrupted by really loud, screaming, rock music that made me grab my short, pointed ears screaming bloody murder.

"AHH!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT MUSIC?!"

Jak stumbles in rubbing his slightly improved eyes mumbling, "That's Ken and his rock-shattering screamo music. It must be midnight."

"You hear _that _every night?!" I screamed over the music.

"_every _night since he moved in next door." Jak sighed in exhaustion.

"I bet you were having such a nice dream!" I shouted to overpower the music, "I haven't seen you look that content since Sandover!"

"I was now that you mention it." he answered.

"What are we gonna do about this Mar-awful noise?!" I screamed.

"I guess we'll have to get earplugs." Jak joked, quoting what I said last month.

"Ha, ha, ha," I moaned, "_very_ funny!"

"I'm actually serious." Jak answered.

I just groaned, reached in my bag, grabbed earplugs, and put them on. I tried to go to sleep, but that rock music combined with Ken's electric drums make it about as impossible as talking to Jak about his powers! Jak was just sitting on a chair trying in vain to sleep by reading himself to sleep.

* * *

_12:30 A.M_

I got up and tried to read myself to sleep, but it didn't work at all and it usually always works. I read every boring and dull book I could find! _The History of Percursia_, _Sandover and It's Beginnings_, _Mar's Memories_, _Dark Monsters of All Shapes & Sizes_, _War & Peace_, _Haven's History_, and _The Book of Questions & Answers_! I still couldn't sleep or get halfway through each book because of that annoying music!

"Grrrrrrr." I growled silently which Jak caught.

"Gonna stop him?" he muttered.

"No, I can't!" I shouted.

Jak just shrugged and continued to try to sleep in vain.

* * *

_2:00 A.M_

I realized the time is about as far as I can stay up without over sleeping and getting the daily scream from Torn. I snarled in anger that is akin to Dark Jak. I tried to sleep by drinking my sleep remedies for those nights when I can't sleep and this night is definitely one of them!

I tried Jak's homemade hot chocolate which he made for me because he won't tell me the recipe. It _always _puts me to sleep even after I tried 10 of Ben's experimental caffeine patches which is equivalent to 20 cups of coffee, that's over 200 cups of joe! But, that _still_ didn't help because of the music.

I tried Samos' Infamous Herbal Tea. I asked Jak what was in it because it looked kind of a dark greenish brown. He told me that I really didn't want to know. I drank it anyway out of desperation to sleep. But, that only left a horrible taste in my mouth for awhile. I still couldn't rest my eyes because of that loud noise!

I tried drinking a lot of warm _Sleeping Farmer's Yakow Milk _and I mean _a lot_! But, that effort only landed me in the bathroom with a bursting bladder and a laughing Jak telling me in his mirth to give up and stop Ken's music blasting once and for all.

"No way, Jak" I shouted through the door.

"Why not?!" Jak more demanded than asked.

"Because I'm... I'm..." I hesitated.

"You're...?" Jak impatiently prodded me to finish.

"I'm-I'm-I'm... I'm scared of the kid!" I screamed, "There! Happy?!"

"Let me guess, because you heard what the others say?" Jak guessed.

"Yeah." I murmured shamefully.

"And you keep telling_ me_ this!" he yelled, "Rumors are just that: _rumors_!"

"I know, but he has the same injection marks on his body as you do!" I pointed out which shocked Jak speechless.

What I pointed out made Jak wonder, more in fear and pity rather than interest or anger, if there's another one of him running around the city. It would explain Ken's fearless behavior when he belted Jak's side with his ten foot chain. Not many would have the guts to lightly slap Jak across the face for fear of losing their arm in the process. It would also explain the boy's horrid behavior towards others and his atrocious temper which caused many casualties.

"I see your point." Jak murmured as I walked out the bathroom to try other sleep methods.

* * *

_2:45 A.M_

When I saw the time I was less than thrilled to put it lightly because I wasn't gonna get enough sleep tonight and I have to be up by nine just like Jak. I tried another way to sleep, burning incense. I must've burned over 30 kinds of incense to try to sleep. But, the loud music was making it very difficult for me to zen out like I usually do with incense.

Jak walked in for a glass of water, but he stopped when he smelled really powerful incense in the air. It was almost as smelly as it is in Onin's tent. He followed the smell and it led to the place where he usually meditates to hone his Dark power. Why does he do that? Ben's orders, obviously. He also allows guests to sleep in there since it has a bed and a closet, but not when he's using it. He saw incense smoke coming from the door.

"Don't tell me she went that far." he muttered to himself as he opened the door to see me just standing there surrounded by twenty sticks of burning incense.

The odor alone set Jak coughing and gasping for air. In a burst of energy, he ran past me and opened a window to get this overpowering smell out of his guest room. I had my eyes closed the whole time though and I was inhaling the odors deeply into my system to relax myself. All I heard was Jak coughing violently for some reason.

"Caught something, Jak?" I asked.

"No," Jak answered while regaining his breath, "I can only stand so much incense in one room."

"This is beyond your limit?" I asked.

"_Way _beyond my limit!" he almost shouted.

"Well, it didn't work out anyway." I muttered, "So, I may as well try something else."

"Or you could _please _give it up and stop Ken altogether." he added.

"You know that I won't try that, Jay." I told him, "I might be signing my death warrant for all I know that he's capable of."

"He can't be _that _dangerous." Jak assumed.

"You don't know that." I shot back, "I'm not taking _one step_ towards Ken's tower and _that_... _is_... _final_!"

I walked out of the guest room leaving Jak so frustrated that he could dark out and talk me into it the 'old fashioned' way. But, he's not gonna do that because I'm his friend and the last person he tried that on died from it. All he could do is cross his arms, close his eyes, look down, and groan in defeat.

"So damn stubborn." he muttered aloud.

* * *

_3:45 A.M_

When I saw the time I was so angry that I could break something in half because there's no way that I'm going to be able to sleep without sleeping in and getting yelled at by Torn. I decided to try my last resort to sleep, meditating in a semi-quiet room. I grabbed a radio, got my yoga mat, grabbed a few candles, made some of my favorite relaxation tea, and walked into the guest/practice room where I was burning incense like crazy earlier.

I laid the mat like a bed sheet in the middle of the ground. I placed the scented candles around the mat. I grabbed my strongest incense and placed it in front of the mat. I placed a tea cozy beside the incense and placed my tea there. I put the radio beside the mat and away from the candles. I put in a disc that plays relaxing music and natural sounds that relax me such as waves, rain, thunderstorms, birds, and the rainforest.

As the disc played, I sat down on the mat and started lighting the candles around me with each natural scent combining with another making me feel like I'm in the forest again. I lit my most relaxing incense which smelled of the rainforest and the sea. I slowly drank my tea with my eyes closed, and placed it back on the cozy. I started to get in a deep, trance-like, altered state of conciousness. Ken seemed to have stopped his music for now which gave me an advantage because this last resort is what I considered to be so sleep inducing to me that I actually slept through a Dark Eco injection.

But, just as it seemed like I was going to fall asleep from every muscle, nerve, and pressure point in me relaxing the rock music came back full force. It was so loud that it forced me out of my trance and made me growl almost like an animal from the frustration of the seemingly impossible task of simply sleeping!

When the incense finally burned out the stress, the anger, the fury, and the frustration of all of my efforts and what my poor friend is going through finally got to me. All of these angry thoughts and feelings towards the aggravating rock music spun out of control in a mad whirl of rage that would be enough to induce Jak into changing into his Dark form. I snarled under my breath and jumped up into a standing position which put all the candles out.

"**THAT'S IT!**" I screamed loud enough for the Wasteland to hear, "**I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!**"

I stomped out of the guest room and walked past a smiling Jak whose happy that I'm finally going to stop this never-ending noise. I walked out of his home and slammed the door hard enough to crack the walls around it.

"Its about time she faced the music." Jak joked to himself before concern overtook him and he followed me quietly to make sure I don't get harmed.

* * *

_4:00 A.M_

I didn't care what time it was at this breaking point of my anger and stress. All I wanted to do was to stop that annoying music and stop it NOW! I stomped up to the tower with the thumping music growing stronger with each step I took towards it. But, I didn't care about the loud noise because I was way too angry to care about anything at this point.

When I walked through the door at the top floor I saw Ken on a large, electric drum/bell set playing it wildly with large mallets and saw he was surrounded by over a dozen large speakers of the highest and most powerful sound. In one swift action, I unplugged the music and swiped one of his mallets away from him which shocked him to see someone who was brave and crazy enough to do that.

"EXCUSE ME!" I screamed, but I remembered who he was and lowered my tone, "Uh, I mean, excuse me... sir..."

Ken had his full attention on me even though I could clearly see that he was angry with me for stopping his beats so abruptly.

"Listen, I hate to barge in like this..." I explained while I summoned enough courage to yell as anger overtook me, "But, it's four in the freaking morning!"

Ken just smiled rather evilly at me even though his loud music obviously damaged his hearing he still kinda heard me screaming what time it was.

"Speak up, kid!" he shouted, "I've only got ears for rock n' roll, if you know what I mean!"

He made the 'rock on' hand sign as he shouted that he only had ears for rock n' roll. He even went as far as to laugh a bit at my misery. I decided to let my full rage take over my voice and I started practically screaming at him to the point the neighbors came out of their homes to see what was going on.

"**I SAID CAN YOU KEEP IT DOWN?!**" I screamed loud enough for the world to hear, "**MY FRIEND HASN'T HAD A SINGLE NIGHT OF PEACE AND QUIET SINCE YOU MOVED NEXT DOOR AND I HAVE TO GET UP EARLY IN THE MORNING!**"

Ken got from behind his drum/bell set and stepped in front of me to face me. Ken pretty much towered over me in height. But, I wasn't going to let that scare me because I was far too angry to feel fear.

"Hey, man..." he explained rudely, "I can't just chill out these hot riffs just because you guys can get your beauty sleep!"

I clenched my fists in anger as he laughed slightly at my feeble attempt to stop him from playing his 'hot riffs'.

"Well, 'course, you Eco Freaks _really_ need it!" he laughed loudly.

My clenched fists were shaking at that point and my face turned red with rage from that insult.

"**WHAAAAT?!" **I screamed in anger.

He thought I didn't hear him and screamed as loud as I did before to get his insult across not knowing a certain someone was hearing all that went down.

"**I SAID TOO BAD YOUR FRIEND ISN'T GETTING HIS BEAUTY SLEEP,**" he screamed as he flipped his hair insultingly, "**CUZ HE... SURE... NEEDS IT!**"

Suddenly, the door exploded in a burst of Dark Eco and the pieces flew over me and Ken's heads. When the dust cleared I nearly screamed when I saw a darked out Jak looking royally pissed off at Ken for a long list of reasons.

"**I HEARD THAT!**" he roared which made Ken back up in shock.

"Uh oh." I murmured in fear.

I slowly backed out of his way with Ken looking a bit terrified, but not all that much. This is mostly Jak's fight because he suffered the most from Ken's thumping rock music. Also, I _really_ wanted to get out of the 'array of fire', otherwise known as the receiving end of his claws!

"**Looks like _someone's_ got to teach YOU some manners!**" he growled, brandishing his claws.

Apparently, Ken didn't have the brain capacity to realize _who_, or more accurately _what_, he was up against because he was really rude about his situation.

"Well, Darkie... why don't you allow me to show you the door... HEAD FIRST!" he shouted while pointing at his head.

He took that as a challenge because he hunched over slightly, bared his teeth, curled his claws, and snarled dangerously low which really made me want to get the heck out of there or make Ken shut up before things _really_ got ugly. I also, wanted to stop Jak because I want him to stay out of this. But, Dark Jak's anger was already way past its peak and there is no stopping him when he's like this.

"Ken, trust me, he gets REAL mean and nasty when he's like this." I explained, "So, you might wanna..."

"Please," Ken laughed, "I could run circles around this creature every day of the week and twice on Sunday! Just like I can with the guards!"

I face-palmed myself just as Dark Jak finally lost whatever was left of his temper and roared at Ken loud enough to shake the tower.

"**CHUMP, I'M GONNA KNOCK YOU RIGHT OFF THIS BLOCK!**" he roared as his scratched his claws against each other and pulled them away which made a noise akin to a sword being unsheathed to get his point across.

"GET IN LINE!" I screamed as I unsheathed my element staffs and they caught fire as my anger peaked.

Ken just smiled at the both of us as if this was nothing more than an inconvenience which made me and possibly Dark Jak feel a touch uneasy. What is that twisted rock head of an ex-criminal gonna do? Looks like we're about to find out...

* * *

_Imagination Gamer: Uh oh. Looks like things have gotten pretty ugly and I don't mean Dark Jak. Why is Ken not even a bit scared of one of the worst monsters you'd ever come across? What is he up to that might prove too much for us? Is he really what Jak and my character thinks he is? Or is he really that stupid from too much music in his head? Let's find out in the last chapter of this short story..._


	6. Ken's Dark Secret

Imagination_ Gamer: The last chapter in the short story! It's about time I finished a story here! Now, who's gonna win this fight? Me and DJ or that idiot rock head Ken? Is the music gonna end or is the problem going to persist? Let's find out in this final chapter that is possibly going to be the longest in this story._

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC's, these events, and other things that weren't in the original game.**

_**Ken's Dark Secret**_

Ken was still smiling at his demise for no reason which made me and DJ a bit uneasy about fighting this ex-criminal whose rumored to have been experimented on longer than Jak which I was hoping wasn't true. But, with the way Ken is staying cool about Dark Jak's presence, it may just be the case. What he says next really shocked me and Darkie most of all.

"_So, there are more of my kind running around this planet._" he said in very fluent Dark Demon, "_I was starting to think I was the only Dark homie._"

It sounded way too fluent for him to have taught himself how to speak it. Even DJ looked a bit thrown off which is incredibly rare. Even I was thrown off at how fluently he spoke in that near dead language.

"Wh-where did you learn to speak Dark Demon?" I stammered in utter confusion. Even DJ looked like he was asking the same thing. Only the look on his face would tell you that he's more demanding it than stammering.

"Why do you ask, girly?" he asked in English which both comforted and offended me.

"Okay, one, nobody, not even the guards, calls ME girly!" I growled, "Two, I'm asking this because Dark Demon is a near dead language because the species are near dead theirselves. And three, you _really_ need to learn how to properly address a woman and her friend!"

Dark looked at me like I was the craziest girl in Precursia. Apparently, he senses something about Ken that doesn't sit right with him like he did when he first faced me. Only, this time, it must've felt much more dark because I can see it in his eyes. Most people ask me how I can tell what that creature is thinking through his soulless eyes. I just say, "Try spending two weeks with him, locked up, in a basement and see how well you get to know him just by looking into his eyes."

"You don't like the idea of fighting this kid do you, DJ?" I asked.

He looked as though he thought about it for a moment, made a decision, and shook his head. It's almost as if he said, "Never thought I'd live to see the day I'd say this, but no I don't like it."

I just smiled at him sarcastically because it's not like him to back down from a fight. Especially, when he's darked out like this. He noticed the sarcasm and snarled at me as if he made a comeback, "But, I'm not backing down if that's what you're assuming!"

I kept the smirk, lowered my head, and muttered, "Now, that's the DJ I know."

Ken broke the silent conversation by shouting, "I'm right here!"

"Oh, I'm sorry." I laughed, "Me and my friend thought you ran off or something."

I was snickering under my breath as Darkie was shaking with his head down. It's almost as if he's trying to keep himself from laughing. Ken was enraged by us laughing at what could probably overwhelm us. He grabbed a guitar which I sensed had some kind of power to it and he shouted, "That's it, you lamers! You wanna party?! LET'S PARTY!"

He plugged the instrument into a very powerful amplifier, had his hand up, leapt into he air, and stroke a loud chord as he landed which sent a wave of Dark Eco after us. We both leapt over it easily, but he kept playing chord after chord, note after note, and more. The worst ones were when he starts playing the bridge of a gothic song because their instrumental breaks are painfully long. DJ managed to keep his energy up, but I was starting to tire from lack of rest. Eventually, I was knocked out of the tower by the bridge of one of my favorite songs. Even though I fell nearly ten stories, I'm not exactly normal, so I stuck the landing. I heard a very angry roar that did not belong to Darkie because it was way too deep which made me worry about Jak.

"I have to go in there!" I told myself, "No, this is mostly his fight. He can do it himself."

I heard claws, teeth, horns, fists, and feet landing which made me worry even more. I smelled blood and lots of concentrated Dark Eco in the air. Also, I saw Dark Eco bolts flying everywhere up in the tower which finally coaxed me into going after my friend despite the risk I'm taking.

"I'm coming, Jay!" I shouted aloud which made me feel like an idiot because that was so cliché of me.

When I ran to the top floor it was eerily empty because there was Eco flying just a few seconds ago. The whole top floor looks like it's been hit by a tornado and an earthquake at the same time. The walls were full of holes, the stained glass windows were shattered, the wooden platforms are splinters, and the bells, stereos, drum set, and all of Ken's possessions are damaged beyond repair.

"_Jeez, DJ wasn't playing around this time._" I thought to myself, "_But, not even he can cause this much destruction in mere minutes. there has to have been another Dark Demon he was fighting to cause this much damage. But, Jak is the only one I know that can transform. Maybe that idiot rock-head..._"

Out of nowhere, the floor underneath me exploded with Eco and... something else came flying out with poor Jak, back to normal from exhaustion, in its claws. This creature held still long enough for me to get a good look at it and it may give me nightmares for months on end! Its skin was a very light blue with markings on its face, arms, legs, and chest that are as black as its eyes. Its eyes are black where the whites should be, scalding blood-red color that rivals my eyes when I was a pirate, and the center of its eyes are snake-like. Its hair is long, wild, and gray with black highlights. Its claws are black, long, curved, and serrated. Its toes have black claws that are curved to the floor and thick. It has eight sharp canines and two thick, curved, serrated sabers that shows that if you get bit you aren't going anywhere unless you want to lose some skin to try to break free. It was easily twice my size and looks like a powerhouse standing still. It has large, gargoyle-like, black wings that are easily twenty feet across. It even has a long, black, bifurcated tail which is rare even for this creature. Even Jak looked scared out of his mind of this thing.

"What the hell is that thing?" I thought aloud which I regretted because the creature roared at my face. It's roar was a combination of a lion's roar, a banshee's scream, a Metal Head's growl, and a man's yell. It terrified me into silence and made Jak cover his ears because it was so loud.

When it stopped roaring, it started to stagger towards me as if it was mostly meant to move on all fours. This action made me back up in fear for my life. When I got a better look at him, my photographic memory acted up again and went back weeks ago when I was reading up on _Dark Monsters and How to Fight Them by Benjamin Darkens_. It showed me an image of the Dark Demon which had me realize what natural-born ones looked like. They looked exactly like this creature which shocked me because they are unbelievably rare to the point that I doubted they even existed! Yet, I'm standing right before one which is indeed an honor. But, I was terrified because it may try to kill me for all I know.

"Dear Mar!" I shouted, "Jak! J-Jak! Do you realize what this thing is?!"

He was in a headlock which drained him of breath so he just simply shook his head no.

"This thing is a natural-born Dark Demon!" I yelled, "I didn't think they'd exist!"

The monster roared at me in extreme anger which made me think that it took offense to the fact that I didn't think that it's kind was real. It picked me up like a doll and threw me against a wall which made it crack and fall apart upon contact. My back didn't take too well to it because I was having trouble getting up. Due to my nerves being screwed up from my extreme, mind numbing, eight month-long, Dark Eco induced torture sessions in the fortress, I can't feel pain unless it's something extreme like getting my bones broken which is rare.

I managed to knock my back bones into place, get up on my feet, and I saw the thing throttling Jak which made my fear melt away. I was really angry with the creature for harming my friend. I drew my element staffs and the fire I channeled into it was more fierce than any fire that burned through these Precursor Staffs that I earned from the Precursors when I was a guard. It looked a bit surprised to see that I got up from being thrown that hard.

My fear melting away helped me to see more of this creature. It's tattered clothing looks very familiar. It was wearing a tattered leather jacket, torn up leather pants, Leather gloves with spikes on the knuckles, and a tattered shirt that has familiar shapes on it. It's ears were pierced in 20 familiar ways and its pale tongue was pierced in 3 ways and was forked. That's where it hit me to the point that I staggered back. The rumors I heard did no justice to the truth of this monster's origin!

"Oh my God..." I murmured, "K-Ken? Is that... you?"

The creature looked up at me in surprise, snarled at me quietly, lowered it's head, and glared at me even harder. It's almost as if it said, "What? How did you know my name? Whoever you are, you are gonna die one way or another!"

I realized that the rumors did no justice to the truth. It's true that he was experimented on because I was there with him in the fortress. But, I never realized that he was natural-born and he probably didn't either which is why he seems unable to control himself. I was conflicted on whether I should kill him or let him kill Jak. I chose what people keep telling me to do: run him out of the slums! My staffs regained their fire, my rage increased even more, and I glared daggers at the creature which gave it pause.

"That does it!" I screamed, "You tortured my friend, you treat us like dirt, you talk like you're all that, and you try to kill us just because we want you to turn your music down a notch!"

It just looked at me like I've taken leave of my senses as I continued to scream at it like an owner would to it's crocadog that bit his hand.

"Ken sometimes you're selfish, ignorant, unreasonable, and just have values that are more askew than Jak's!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Jak was staring at me while I was screaming at this terrifying creature which made him wonder what in the name of Precursia I'm up to.

"If you hurt my friend again you're gonna regret incurring my wrath and moving to this neighborhood in the first place!" I screeched.

It smiled at me like I was bluffing and he twisted Jak's arm which made him yell out in pain and incurred my wrath even more to the point that my eyes flashed red. I cried out in anger and charged at the creature with my staffs primed to strike him. He held Jak in front of him as a shield, but I thought ahead of that. I slid under his legs, got behind him, and struck him on the back so hard that it knocked the wind out of him and made him drop Jak.

"Jak!" I shouted, "Get out of here!"

But, Jak, stubborn as ever, refused, "No, I'm not leaving you to this... thing! I'm helping and nobody is going to stop me!"

I snarled in frustration, but I let him stay because I can use some backup with this creature. Jak climbed up a rope ladder to the rafters. I was still swatting the things' back as Jak was climbing up. By the time Jak reached the rafters, he heard a loud crack and a pained roar. Jak got out his Peace Maker as fast as he could and looked to see what happened. He saw that I broke one of the creature's wings and the wing had open wounds that are oozing black blood which unsettled both me and him because we've never seen black blood before.

"Just when I've started to think that I've been everywhere and seen everything," I muttered, "black blood is a new one."

The monster snarled and me and swatted me away which made Jak take aim at the creature. What made him lower his weapon is me leaping on it's back and trying to get it into a chokehold which is not as easy as it sounds because the creature is big, strong, and as stubborn as a Yakow. When I managed to get him into a headlock, the monster clawed at my hands which I couldn't feel, bit at them, and finally pulled them off. He lifted me from him and threw me across the room which made Jak mad. He darked out faster than you could blink, lunged at the monster, and tore into the creature. DJ was crawling all over the monster really fast to keep it from grabbing him and he was clawing it up to the point that it was bleeding in places I didn't even know it had.

I got back on my feet, tried to catch my breath, grabbed my staffs, and waited for the right moment to strike. I picked the moment to charge when DJ was going for the face of the creature and they were near a hole. I charged at the two and struck the monster on its stomach which made it stumble into the hole and DJ jumped from it in time. It fell roaring to the ground which I supposed. Little did I know that the Dark Demon was faking his fall and was hanging on to a rafter ten feet down the hole.

I was as happy as a Metal Head in a Dark Eco cave because the monster seems to be gone. But, DJ had a feeling that it wasn't over yet. He shook my shoulder to get me to stop celebrating the creature's demise. I looked at him and saw a look of concern on his face which clearly read that he didn't think that the creature is gone and he pointed at the hole which told me to check the hole. I looked down the dark hole to see if the creature isn't messing with us. The second I looked down I saw the face of him and I leapt back shouting in fear as the creature leapt out of the hole and landed on me to tear me to pieces. DJ thought otherwise because he leapt on the monster and had him in a chokehold which forced it to get away from me and try to get Dark Jak off of him.

When I managed to get back to my senses from the fright of having a monster about to kill me I saw it pry DJ from him, glare at him, and throw him against a wall. That enraged me and made me lash out on him with my staffs. We engaged in a staff and claw fight. I was parrying his claws and he was barely parrying my staffs because I was moving so fast. DJ forced himself up and ran to the creature to help me out because I was starting to tire. Now, the monster was parrying both my staffs and Dark Jak's claws which would be considered close to impossible to those who know of us. The monster had enough of this and picked up DJ like a doll which made me a bit worried. He threw him up through the rafters, caught him, threw him up through another set of rafters, caught him again, and finally threw him into me and almost through a wall. After taking so much damage, it forced him to change back to normal which both worried and enraged me.

"**THAT"S IT**!" I roared in a rage which is enough to awe DJ, "**YOU ASKED FOR IT**!"

I got out from under Jak, grabbed my staffs, charged at the creature, and started to furiously beat him with my staffs. I was moving so fast that I could barely see myself. I was pounding him on the arms, legs, stomach, face, rear, back, neck, and where the sun don't shine which made it drop to the ground and I continued to beat on it in a blind rage. Jak managed to force himself up despite his injuries. He saw me beating on Ken in a blind rage which made him smile weakly because he finds it funny when I go off on someone. He picked up his Peace Maker and started to charge the shot.

When I was beating on him in my blind rage and wouldn't let up, the monster was getting more frustrated as I pounded on him and he finally got up roaring at me which snapped me out of my rage and made me back up. It was a smart move because Jak fired his Peace Maker and hit the creature causing the electricity to course through the creature and made it shriek in pain. The monster was really hurt and was stumbling around the room. When it stumbled to a hole in the wall, Jak and I charged into the creature which forced it to fall through the wall. It fell screaming from the ten story tower to the ground and landed which shook the streets. Taking so much damaged forced Ken to change back.

Ken forced himself up and he was cracking his bones back in place as he was getting up. He looked around where he was, turned around, looked up, and saw his tower destroyed to the point of disrepair. He also saw us standing there on the top of the tower glaring at him for torturing us for so long and not telling us about this sooner. He whimpered in fear that we beat him at his worst and he ran away to get out of here and away from us.

"_**AND STAY** **OUT**_**!**" we both shouted at the same time.

The slummers apparently saw what went down because they were cheering loudly for us. They finally get to have a peaceful night's sleep now that Ken is gone hopefully for good. Me and Jak smiled at the cheering crowd. Suddenly, Daxter came back from his little two month vacation and saw the destroyed tower with me and Jak in it.

"Whoa!" he shouted, "I turn my back on you guys for two months and you two are already destroying buildings!"

Me and Jak got down from the tower to have a talk with the otsel. Jak staggered more than I did because he took more wounds than I did. Daxter was shocked to see his friend stumble on his two feet and to see the both of us covered in various wounds like we just got back from the Metal Head Nest and barely got away with our lives.

"Yeesh," Dax joked, "what did you guys do? Get into a fight with an army of Metal Heads?"

"No, worse." I answered, "We got into a fight with a Dark Eco infused killer."

"What?" Daxter yelled with a confused look, "I thought you and Jak were the only..."

"Nope," I sighed, "There are more besides me and Jak it seems."

Daxter was terrified because me and Jak being Dark Eco infused monsters was enough. But, the fact that there are more besides me and Jak was enough to shake the nerves of a Metal Head. I saw how exhausted Jak looked from going a month without sleep and fighting a creature that rivals the power of Dark Jak himself. Even I was a bit tired because I rarely, if ever, stay up this late at night.

"Well, Jak and I are going to get some rest because we haven't gotten any sleep in a while" I told him, "See you at The Otsel tomorrow."

"See ya guys!" he called back as we walked back to Jak's home to finally get some sleep.

Jak dropped down onto his bed, sighed in content, and said, "Finally, some peace and quiet."

"Amen!" I agreed as I walked into his room as he tucked himself in and closed his eyes.

"I think I'm going to need more than just one night of sleep to be up and at 'em." he muttered with his eyes closed.

"Don't worry," I told him, "I'll make sure of it that Torn will give you a vacation because he's seen what happens when you get no sleep."

"Good luck with that." he murmured sleepily, "You're gonna need it."

"Consider myself in luck." I joked as Jak was half asleep.

"Torn's really hard to convince." he murmured quietly.

"Trust me, I'll handle him." I told him as I was closing the door, "Good night, Jay."

"Night." he murmured so quietly that I almost didn't catch it as I closed the door to get some rest and have a _talk_ with Torn.

_**The End**_

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_Imagination Gamer: Not bad for a revolver story (six shot), eh? I hope you guys check out my profile and vote for which story I should do next because I'm having a bit of trouble deciding on what to do next._


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